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Conservative talk show host , Sean O’Reilly hated Hip Hop with a passion. Yet, there he was, sitting in front of his flat screen watching the Grammys, anxiously , waiting for the rap song of the year to be announced . When the winner was finally revealed ,he jumped off his recliner like this favorite team had just won the Superbowl. No , he hadn’t become a converted Kanye West fan, he was just happy that he could announce to his millions of listeners the next morning that the best rap song was “N*ggas in Paris…”

The moment it was announced that the legendary Whitney Houston had shockingly died on the eve of the Grammy Awards, music fans instantly wondered what sort of tribute would be planned for Sunday’s ceremony–especially on such late notice. But, just like the BET Awards retooled its entire 2009 ceremony after Michael Jackson died just days earlier, the Grammys are going into similar 11th-hour overdrive this weekend. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Recording Academy president Neil Portnow is scrambling to revamp Sunday’s Grammy ceremony so that it will include a Whitney tribute featuring Jennifer Hudson. ET reports that Chaka Khan will also participate.

“The Grammys, because of the size of the production and all of the elements–with three stages and thousands of microphones and sets and costumes–it’s a difficult show, like the Titanic, to move in the 11th hour,” Portnow told the press at the annual pre-Grammy party hosted by Whitney mentor Clive Davis, which went on as planned despite Whitney’s tragic death that afternoon. “That being said, I have the A-Team and I have a bunch of nimble people who are very smart, and we’re in the process of deciding creatively what might be appropriate and what we can do tomorrow. Certainly, she’ll be in our hearts.” (more…)